READ THE Case Study:

Investigating Mimicry in Snake Populations

• Many poisonous species are brightly colored, which warns

potential predators
• Mimics are harmless species that closely resemble poisonous
species
• Henry Bates hypothesized that this mimicry evolved in
harmless species as an evolutionary adaptation that reduces
their chances of being eaten
 Hypothesis Testing
• Hypothesis tested with poisonous eastern coral snake
and its mimic, the non-poisonous scarlet kingsnake
• Both live in the Carolinas, but the scarlet kingsnake is
also found in regions without poisonous coral snakes
• If …. Then statement of hyspothesis testing
– If predators inherit an avoidance of the coral snake’s
coloration, then the colorful scarlet kingsnake will be
attacked less often in the regions where coral snakes are
present
Fig. 1-25

Scarlet kingsnake (nonpoisonous)

Key
Range of scarlet
kingsnake only
Overlapping ranges of
scarlet kingsnake and
eastern coral snake

North
Carolina
Eastern coral snake
(poisonous)
South
Carolina

Scarlet kingsnake (nonpoisonous)

 Field Experiments with Artificial Snakes
• To test this mimicry hypothesis, researchers made
hundreds of artificial snakes:
– An experimental group resembling kingsnakes
– A control group resembling plain brown snakes
• Equal numbers of both types were placed at field
sites, including areas without poisonous coral snakes
 Designing Controlled Experiments
• A controlled experiment compares an experimental group
(artificial kingsnakes) with a control group (the artificial
brown snakes)
• Ideally, only the variable of interest (the color pattern of
the artificial snakes) differs between the control and
experimental groups
• A controlled experiment means that control groups are
used to cancel the effects of unwanted variables
• A controlled experiment does not mean that all unwanted
variables are kept constant
 Question, Hypothesis, & Prediction…
• Question
– Does the scarlet kingsnake benefit from its mimicry of the
eastern coral snake?
• Hypothesis
– The scarlet kingsnake avoids predation due to its mimicry of
the eastern coral snake.
• Predictions
– In areas with both species, predators will avoid scarlet king
snakes; in areas with only scarlet kingsnakes, their pattern
will have no protective effect.
 Testing…
• Place artificial snakes in the environment
and measure “predation” – how frequently
the models are attacked:
– Experimental group: artificial scarlet
kingsnakes
– Control group: artificial brown snakes
• Ideally, the control group differs from the
experimental group by the variable of
interest - the variable under study
– What was the variable in this case?
– Reproducibility: place hundreds of each kind
of “snake”.
 Results…
• After four weeks, the scientists
retrieved the artificial snakes
and counted the bite or claw
marks
• Data fit the predictions of the
mimicry hypothesis (not
falsifiable): Ringed snakes
were attacked less frequently in
the geographic region where
coral snakes were found